Monrovia – The Liberia Law Society welcomes President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf’S recent statement in regards to the urgent passage of the Land Rights Act.

She made the statement when she met with Mr. Olof Skoog, the Chair of the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission when he visited Liberia recently.

She had similarly indicated in her 2017 Annual Message that the passage of the Land Rights Act was among her priority in so far as her legislative agenda was concerned.

To date, the Land Rights Act has not passed. We urgently appeal to the President of the Republic to act with a keener sense of urgency and alacrity in order to have the Land Right Act Passed.

The Law Society believes that the passage of the Land Rights Act will prove to be a landmark achievement of this Administration given the following reasons:

Article 2, Section 22: Customary land is equal to private land. Customary Land, owned by communities, and used and managed in accordance with customary practices, is protected just as privately held land.

Article 32, Section 2: Customary ownership is automatically formalized. With or without a deed, the moment that the Land Rights Act passes into law, Customary Land rights will be legally protected. “The existence and ownership of Customary Land shall become enforceable as of the Effective Date of this Act.”

Article 9, Section 4: There are no written requirements to prove customary land ownership.

The community must simply demonstrate a “longstanding relationship or ties” to the customary land being claimed. This can be done through oral testimony.

The Liberia Law Society recognizes that this view represents a broad section of Liberia civil society organizations as well as our informed citizenry. Liberia civil society organizations have pointed out that “These provisions are tools to help eliminate poverty and will help expand the rights and economic power of all Liberians.”

“We therefore believe that the Land Rights Act (LRA) is key to correcting historical isolation and political marginalization of citizens in poor and rural communities”

Meanwhile, international actors have weighed into the debate and called upon the National Legislature to fast-track the passage of the Land Rights Act.

At a recent event sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme, UNMIL Representative Yacoub Hillo pointed out that the passage of the Land Rights Act will address “many issues between Concession companies and the communities where they operate”; a view shared by the Governance Commission of Liberia.

The Liberia Law Society wishes to appeal to members of the National Legislature to pass the Land Rights Act.

 At the same time, the Law Society will work with communities in four counties: Bong, Lofa, Margibi and Nimba counties to undertake a citizen petition that would appeal to the various elected members of the House and Senate in these counties to support the quick passage of the Land Rights Act. Similarly,

The Law Society respectfully appeal to the Senate Pro – Tempore, Senator Armah Jallah and the Speaker of the House of Representatives Emmanuel Nuquay to work closely with their colleagues and act to pass the Land Rights Act.

Monrovia – As part of improving citizens’ engagement in concessions management and managing concession-related conflicts, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is organizing a two-day national multi-stakeholders Platform meeting in Monrovia.

The meeting brings together four Multi-Stakeholders’ Platforms (MSPs) from affected communities in concession areas in Grand Cape Mount, Maryland, Nimba and Sinoe Counties.

The meeting which is in partnership with the National Bureau of Concession (NBC) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia, is designed to strengthen concession monitoring and prevention capabilities of participants by providing space for experiential learning on how to formalize, operationalize and monitor the activities of MSPs in response.

It is part of activities on ‘Strengthening National Reconciliation through Improved Understanding of Conflict Drivers in Concession Areas and the Establishment of Multi-Stakeholder Platforms under the Assessed Contribution Project.

The events take place 22-23, June at the Monrovia City Hall from 8:00am and will discuss the timeline and operational modalities for the multi-stakeholder platforms over the next one year.

Additionally, participants will review and refine the framework for concession conflict management as well as reflect on concession grievances, the lessons learned and opportunities for improvement.

It is expected that the leaderships of project affected communities will be formally inducted into office during the Meeting.

Participation at the Meeting will include Representatives of Project Affected Communities at the Sime Darby Liberia-SDL Grand Cape Mount County, Acelor Mittal-(AML) in Nimba County; Golden Veroleum-GVL in Sinoe County and the Maryland Oil Palm Plantation-MOPP in Maryland County.

Others include representatives of county authorities from the four counties, the Legislature, relevant Ministries, Agencies and Commissions, the United Nations, as well as civil society and other local peace structures.

It is hoped that at the end of the exercise, a framework is developed to conduct multi-stakeholder dialogue for concession management; develop more clearly articulated land concession conflict management strategies and practices, enhance capacities for diagnosis and response to effectively contribute to the prevention of land concession conflicts and better identify vulnerabilities.

The Accessed Funding Project is a peace building and community cohesion project that builds upon the work undertaken by Sime Darby’s Sustainable Partnership Initiative (SPI), which brings project-affected communities (PACs), relevant government entities, civil society, development partners and concessionaires to a common platform to work through specific concerns arising from concession operations as well as framing collective agendas.

Monrovia – Senator Albert Chie, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Lands, Mines, Energy and Natural Resources, has challenged Liberian officials responsible for handling land matters in the country to act appropriately and promptly.

Senator Chie, speaking at a public hearing of commissioners of the newly created agency stressed that the issue of land conflict is a major problem that needs to be resolved quickly and efficiently.

During Monday’s confirmation hearing for the commissioner-designate for Land, Planning and Policy, J. Adams Manobah, of the Liberia Land Authority, the Grand Kru County lawmaker said due to the voluminous responsibility of the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy, land conflict resolution has been weakened.

He added that the creation of the Land Authority seeks to address various land conflicts in the country.

Senator Chie told the Commissioner-designate that his confirmation hearing and vetting process are few of the several steps to ensuring that the new commission gets the best to ensure land conflicts are adequately resolved.

Testifying before the committee, Manobah boasted of his vast experience in land, planning and policy as well as his experience in real estate management, saying those are good reasons for the Senate to confirm him.

“Because of my experience and the level work I did at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as manager of Land, Planning and Policy, I believe this is why I was seconded as Commissioner-designate. So Senators, I can assure you I will perform to the expectation of the law establishing the authority,” he said.

“If the land rights Act is passed, it needs to be reviewed and reduced to regulations that will fast track land conflicts.”

“Because one of the major challenges in the land sector is private land and concession land conflicts.”

According to him, in order to resolve these land conflicts, there must be title registration rather than clinching to the deeds registration which he described as “the crux of land conflicts”.

Commissioner-designate Manobah said in order to make the authority vibrant, there is a need for resource mobilization, capacity building and training.